Managed link building is an ongoing campaign where we plan targets, run outreach, secure editorial placements, and report live links each month on your behalf. You keep control of goals and approvals; we own the prospecting calendar and publisher conversations.
As a link building agency UK teams hire for continuity, we structure work around your URLs rather than a catalogue of placements. That matters when rankings depend on specific category or guide pages, not a scattered profile.
What you get each month
Managed link building runs on a fixed rhythm so your team always knows what stage the campaign is in and what needs a decision.
- Step 1
Target mapping
Priority URLs, anchor guidance, and competitor gaps agreed at kickoff and refreshed when rankings shift.
- Step 2
Prospect research
Manual shortlists matched to your topics, with irrelevant or risky sites filtered before outreach.
- Step 3
Outreach and follow-up
Personalised pitches and polite follow-ups handled by the same account contact each month.
- Step 4
Approvals
Copy, targets, and anchors sent for sign-off before anything goes live on your behalf.
- Step 5
Live checks
Every placement verified in a browser: URL, anchor, destination page, and surrounding context.
- Step 6
Reporting review
A walkthrough of what landed, what is pending, and recommended focus for the next cycle.
Managed campaigns vs other ways to buy links
The table below shows where managed link building fits if you are weighing internal hiring, one-off orders, or a retained partner.
For a longer comparison, read managed agency vs ad hoc vs in-house. Most clients choose managed work when outreach competes with content and technical priorities inside a small SEO team.
What a typical month looks like
Week one focuses on planning: which URLs need links, which angles fit publishers this month, and what copy or data your team must supply. Outreach ramps through weeks two and three while approvals run in parallel. Week four concentrates on live checks, reporting, and next-month targets.
Quiet weeks still include prospect research so the pipeline does not stall. That cadence is what working with a link building agency month to month should feel like: predictable touchpoints, not surprise invoices.
A strong brief speeds everything up. Use our notes on how to brief a link building agency before kickoff so anchor rules and publisher standards are clear on day one.
Placement types inside a managed campaign
Managed link building is the wrapper, not a single tactic. Inside one campaign we may run guest posting, niche edits, or digital PR depending on what your pages need. The account plan states which lines are active so reporting stays transparent.
Ecommerce clients often weight category pages and buying guides. Agency partners may route fulfillment through white label link building while keeping the same monthly rhythm. Every line shares one reporting format and one point of contact.
Before you commit, skim what a good monthly link building campaign includes so you know which fields to expect in our reports and planning calls.